With branches in Belgium, France and the U.K., Strictly Confidential was founded in 1987 in Brussels by Michel Lambot, Kenny Gates, and Pierre Mossiat. With the acquisition, Downtown will control the rights to Strictly Confidential's stable of original music from the year it was established through 2017. The business move does not include the label's music publishing administration business, which will continue operating under its current management team, and will develop a catalog of new original music.

"For more than 30 years, Strictly Confidential has set a gold standard in copyright management and artistic development," said Justin Kalifowitz, CEO of Downtown Music Holdings, the parent company of Downtown Music Publishing. "Building upon Downtown’s investments in the EU and UK, we couldn’t be more excited to welcome this wonderfully diverse song catalog into our global portfolio. I want to thank Michel, Kenny, and especially Pierre, who has not only been a close friend but a strong advocate for copyright globally, in entrusting us with these important works."

"Building Strictly Confidential over the last three decades has been a labour of love for myself, Michel and Pierre, so we are delighted that it has found an amazing new home in Downtown Music Publishing," said Gates. "Justin Kalifowitz and his team are passionate about the music and respectful of the legacy, and we feel sure that they are the right people to take the catalogue forward. We are equally excited to be launching Strictly Songs as the new home for our music publishing interests and to be continuing our work as sub-publishers to some of the world’s best catalogues, songwriters and composers."

Downtown Music Publishing has been on a hot streak this year. In April, the New York City-based company nabbed the administration rights for George Gershwin's catalog, and Downtown Music Holdings acquired AVL Digital Group and its subsidiaries, including AdRev, CD Baby, DashGo and Soundrop.